THREE BRITISH NATIONALS INDICTED ON CHARGES OF CONSPIRING TO USE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION, PROVIDING MATERIAL SUPPORT TO TERRORISTS

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey, Assistant Attorney
Christopher A. Wray of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney David N. Kelley of
the Southern District of New York, and FBI Executive Assistant Director Gary
Bald announced today that three British nationals have been indicted by a
federal grand jury in Manhattan on charges of conspiring to use weapons of
mass destruction, providing material support and resources to terrorists, and
conspiring to damage and destroy buildings.

The four-count indictment names: Dhiren Barot, a/k/a “Esa al-Britani,” “Abu
Esa al-Britani,” “Esa al-Hindi,” and “Issa al-Hindi”; Nadeem Tarmohamed; and
Qaisar Shaffi. The indictment alleges that the defendants entered the United
States in 2000 and 2001 to conduct surveillance of several buildings in New
York, Northern New Jersey and Washington, D.C. as part of a conspiracy to
damage and destroy the buildings. After discovery of the surveillance
activities, the Homeland Security Advisory level was raised from “Elevated”
(Yellow) to “High” (Orange) for those communities until November 2004. As
indicated in the indictment, the conspiracies to attack buildings were ongoing
until August 2004, when the defendants were arrested in the United Kingdom.

The defendants are charged with: conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction
against persons within the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2332a
(a)(2); conspiracy to provide and conceal material support and resources to
terrorists, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2339A; providing and concealing
material support and resources to terrorists, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §
2339A; and conspiracy to damage and destroy buildings used in interstate and
foreign commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844 (i) and (n).

The defendants are currently in custody in the United Kingdom, facing criminal
charges in that country. At the conclusion of those proceedings, the United
States intends to seek the extradition of all three defendants so that they
may stand trial in this country.

If convicted of the charges in the United States, the defendants face a
maximum sentence of life in prison on the charge of conspiracy to use weapons
of mass destruction, 15 years in prison on each material support count, and 20
years in prison on the charge of conspiring to damage and destroy buildings.

“The conspiracy laid out in the indictment was designed to kill as many
Americans as possible, and the alleged surveillance of these buildings makes
these allegations all the more serious,” said Deputy Attorney General James
Comey. “Through the hard work of many of our law enforcement partners both
here and overseas, we were able to hold those behind the conspiracy
accountable for their actions and ensure that their plans to harm our homeland
never materialized.”

“The fact that these terrorists stalked their targets while surrounded by
innocent and unsuspecting Americans going about their everyday affairs reminds
all of us that a successful campaign against terrorism calls upon all of us to
be ever-vigilant,” said U.S. Attorney David N. Kelley of the Southern District
of New York. “The entire law enforcement community is committed to this battle
and will travel the globe to bring to justice any and all terrorists,
particularly those plotting to commit terrorist acts on our soil.”

Gary Bald, the FBI’s Executive Assistant Director for Counterterrorism and
Counterintelligence, said, “These indictments show once again that the battle
against terrorism is global, and to win it, we must be able to investigate
aggressively and piece together intelligence from the country and across the
world. This case is a success story because of strong cooperation between the
New York and New Jersey Joint Terrorism Task Forces, other JTTFs across the
country, our Legal Attache Office in London, our counterparts in the U.K., and
other international partners.”

The indictment alleges that at various times from on or about Aug. 17, 2000
through April 8, 2001, the three defendants visited and conducted surveillance
on buildings and surrounding neighborhoods in the United States, including the
International Monetary Fund World Headquarters and the World Bank Headquarters
in Washington, D.C., the Prudential Corporate Plaza and World Headquarters
Building in Newark, New Jersey, and the New York Stock Exchange Building and
the Citigroup Centre in Manhattan, New York. This surveillance allegedly
included, among other things, video surveillance conducted in Manhattan in or
about April 2001. The indictment alleges that the surveillance was part of the
conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.

The indictment alleges that in or about 1998, Barot served as a lead
instructor at a jihad training camp in Afghanistan where recruits were taught
to use weapons and received other paramilitary training. In about June 2000,
Barot allegedly applied to a college in New York to conceal the true purpose
of his subsequent trips to the United States. While he was admitted to the
college for the 2000 and 2001 school years, the indictment alleges that he
never enrolled in or attended any classes at the college. The indictment
details several trips that the defendants made between the United Kingdom and
the United States during the course of the charged conspiracy.

The prosecutors responsible for this case are George Z. Toscas of the
Counterterrorism Section of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of
Justice, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric B. Bruce and Joon H. Kim of the
U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York. The Criminal
Division’s Office of International Affairs assisted in this matter. The
investigation was led by the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, the New York Police Department and the Joint Terrorist Task
Force, with assistance from FBI agents and JTTF members across the country and
at the FBI Legal Attache’s Office in London, England.

The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations. All defendants
are presumed innocent until and unless convicted in a court of law.